Roasters Guild Represented at Ka’u Coffee Festival
By Mark Inman, Olam Specialty Coffee, Roasters Guild Executive Council Chair The Ka’u Coffee festival is held annually in Pahala on the island of Hawaii. I was was fortunate enough to be invited to attend and speak on behalf of the Roasters Guild at the event this year, which was held May 8th through 11th. This event …
CoffeeCon: The Consumer Coffee Event
CoffeeCon is the place to connect with the most engaged, excited coffee consumers. Since the first event in Warrenville, IL in 2012, the event has rapidly expanded—one CoffeeCon has already taken place in Chicago so far in 2014, and three more are planned, in San Francisco, New York, and Los Angeles. Founded by Kevin Sinnott, …
From Seed to Shelf: Ethical Consumerism from the Ground Up in Guatemala
by Lindsey Berk, Operation Groundswell “Eating is an agricultural act.” —Wendell Berry, American novelist, activist, cultural critic, and farmer We seem to have forgotten that. At least, I had forgotten that until I left my corporate job and my NYC apartment in 2011 to begin a three-year journey around Latin America and Australia. Working …
The Green Coffee Buyer: A Key Link in the Coffee Supply Chain
by Andi C. Trindle Mersch, Philz Coffee Green coffee buyers essentially operate right in the middle of it all: we serve as intermediaries for the coffee bean, standing between growers and final consumers. Despite the bad rap “middlemen” have received in the coffee trade over the years, speaking from the middle as a green coffee buyer myself—I …
Expanding the Role of the Exporter in the Direct Trade Model
by Francisco A. Mena, Exclusive Coffees S.A. Many of the other participants in this issue are green buyers who work for roasters or importing companies. In this feature, we shine a spotlight on the role of an exporter, which is someone who consolidates crops from producers for processing and sale to out-of-country businesses. Francisco Mena, standard-bearer …
A Novice Green Buyer’s Search for Meaning
by Jessica Cole, Elysian Coffee Roasters There are a few things about green buying that aren’t what I expected. I thought green buyers trotted over volcanic terrain shouldering sacks of coffee, heroically hopping around like nimble-footed mountain goats. I thought being more connected to purchasing would shed some light on coffee’s more existential questions: what …
The Green Coffee Buyer: Myths and Realities
By Rob Stephen, InterAmerican Coffee & Mark Inman, Olam Specialty Coffee If you ask someone who is new to the coffee industry what job they’d like to have, one of the most popular answers is that of the green coffee buyer. This job has been written about, envied, glamorized, and mythologized since coffee became a popular …
An Interview with Colby Barr of Verve Coffee Roasters
How and when did you begin working in the coffee industry? (What was your first coffee job, or did it all start with Verve?) I began working in the coffee industry in 2005; my first foray into coffee was actually as a business owner. I had finished college and was working a “professional” “job” using …
Cupping with Darrin Daniel of Allegro Coffee Company
What tools/supplies/resources do you use most often as a green coffee buyer? There are so many tools. For traveling to source, I would say my biggest tools are my camera, notebook, and a cupping spoon. Sounds silly doesn’t it? But seriously, chronicling as much as I can through writing and images is a huge part of …
Securing the Future of Quality Coffee: Risk Management and New Opportunities to Strengthen Coffee Supply
by Ben Corey-Moran, Fair Trade USA Growing great coffee is no easy task. Period. Now, try producing the finest beans on the market while battling the pounding hand of climate change, the spread of diseases like coffee leaf rust, and wildly volatile markets with an oftentimes distant relationship to the generally accepted terms of supply and …
The Opportunities of Knowledge Sharing and the Perils of Misinformation
by Adam Pesce, Reunion Island Coffee When I started traveling to origin as a coffee buyer eight years ago, the concept of a buying trip was hardly a new one. Buyers were visiting farmers, co-ops, and importers around the world long before it became the virtual necessity for credible specialty coffee roasters it is now. Over …
Portfolio | Issue No. 2 | Origin
HONDURAS is located in the center of the Americas. This unrivaled geographical position, its marked diversity of climates and soils, with ideal rainfall patterns and a strong coffee tradition of over a hundred years, confers a privileged position as a coffee bean producer of excellent quality. HONDURAS is composed of six diverse and interesting regions, …